I realized that this is an old thread but I just want to comment real quickly because I had bought a Nighthawk a few years back (mainly as a backup to my primary phono stage in case it ever had problems, an EAR 834p, which has never had a problem in 10+ years of ownership). Although I had listened to the Nighthawk for a few days after I first bought it, and liked it, I put it in the closet and more or less forgot about it.
Flash forward to this evening where I was cleaning out the closet and decided to throw it in the system just for a laugh. No laughter whatsoever. Dead serious actually. This thing kills for the price. I still prefer my EAR 834p, but you could do a LOT worse than the Nighthawk...and end up spending quite a bit more money in the process.
There are 3 things I really like about this (and they are the primary reasons I bought it):
1. Adjustable gain - so you can get really creative in any number of system configurations
2. Battery powered - quiet as the grave
3. Adjustable loading - Ok, this is a nice-to-have option that is not a common feature on phono stages. I never mess with loading too much, but if given the option, I will tinker with it a little
Summary: if you are on a sub-$900 budget for a solid-state phono stage, I think this is one definitely worth trying.
